The top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, held talks with Pakistani leaders yesterday, aiming to patch up ties strained by a flurry of US strikes against militants in Pakistan.
Mullen said this month he was not convinced Western forces were winning in Afghanistan and he was “looking at a new, more comprehensive strategy” that would cover both sides of the border, including Pakistan’s tribal areas.
US officials say Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked fighters use ethnic Pashtun tribal regions on the Pakistani side of the border as a springboard for attacks into Afghanistan.
A new government in nuclear-armed Pakistan has committed itself to the US-led campaign against Islamist militancy even though support for the US is deeply unpopular.
But Islamabad objects to cross-border strikes and protested against a bloody helicopter-borne ground assault by US commandos in South Waziristan this month. There have been five US missile strikes this month, killing militants and civilians.
Dealers said the Pakistani rupee weakened to a record low of 77.20 to the dollar yesterday partly because of tension with the US, a major source of financial help for Pakistan as it struggles with economic problems.
A US embassy spokesman said that Mullen wanted to improve coordination and cooperation with the Pakistani military.
“Admiral Mullen has worked to forge a closer relationship and he wants to continue the relationship building,” said the spokesman, Lou Fintor.
Pakistani army commander General Ashfaq Kayani said last week Pakistan’s territory would be defended at all costs and a military spokesman said on Tuesday aggression across the border would be confronted.
Asked about Pakistani anger over cross-border US strikes, Fintor said Mullen “recognized the concerns expressed by General Kayani and desires to continue the dialogue.”
“The United States is committed to working with Pakistan to eliminate the safe havens,” he said.
Mullen met Kayani and was due to see Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and other officials.
US President George W. Bush approved the US commando assault in South Waziristan on Sept. 3 without Islamabad’s permission as part of a presidential order on covert operations, officials and sources familiar with the matter said.
But officials and analysts in Washington said the Bush administration was unlikely to use commando raids as a common tactic against militant havens in Pakistan because of the high-stake risks to US policy in the region.
Any future raids must be approved on a mission-by-mission basis by a top US administration official because of the political sensitivities involved and the calculated risk of US troops being killed or captured on Pakistani soil, they said.
“This is extremely sensitive. You can’t have soldiers in the field, or even their commanders, making this kind of decision,” said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the topic involves classified information.
Pakistani security officials said on Monday firing by Pakistani troops forced two US military helicopters to turn back to Afghanistan after they crossed into Pakistani territory, although the US and Pakistani militaries denied it.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said in London on Tuesday he did not believe the US would carry out more raids.
Mullen arrived the same day that Pakistan’s army said its forces have orders to open fire if US troops launch another raid across the Afghan border.
The new firing orders were disclosed by Pakistani army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas in an interview on Tuesday with The Associated Press.
Abbas said Pakistani field commanders had previously been tolerant about international forces crossing a short way into Pakistan because of the ill-defined and contested nature of the mountainous frontier.
“But after the [Sept. 3] incident, the orders are clear,” Abbas said. “In case it happens again in this form, that there is a very significant detection, which is very definite, no ambiguity, across the border, on ground or in the air: Open fire.”
Abbas would not say whether the orders were discussed in advance with US officials.
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